Into the Dark
by spelerison
Summary: He may have lost his mind but it was nice to know he hadn't lost his friends. A short tale of the Gunnery before his time with NCIS.


**Into the Dark**

The dank slither in the wall leading outside was the only kindness that had been bestowed upon him since his "arrival".

It gave him a connection to what was left of this countries humanity and a break from the ever present pain.

The questions came and went along with the total darkness but the pain was a constant, just like the unbearable heat it seemed to bring.

There was nothing quite like the agonizing burn of sweat dripping into a freshly formed cut.

The memory made his stomach tighten and tense and he found himself grateful that it was empty, had been for some time now.

The prison camp he'd been stuffed in wasn't well known for there catering... the only thing he had been offered looked more like sludge than the water they claimed it to be and he really wasn't interested in finding out what they considered a meal.

The only thing of interest to him being his location.

Consciousness had slipped him too many times to know the when but training reminded him the where was more important. In a situation like this it was everything actually but his view offered little vantage, not even enough of a glimpse to rule out his own back yard which was beyond frustrating. He was at the complete mercy of others and the knowledge of that had him tossing his head back in anger.

Pure and simply this was his own hell; he'd already resigned himself to it.  
He would die in a frightful pit of some foreign disease, if the malnutrition didn't claim him first, and his family would be left to fend for themselves.

They'd never know what had become of him.. it tore at his heart.  
Either way though he was tired, and more than ready for this horrendous journey to find its end.

With a sigh he layed his head against the rough and ragged wall willing that all too familiar pull to drag him under.  
Just as that tug was pulling his eyes shut a disastrous sound echoed loudly off the walls.

Thunder.

The tiniest part of him was happy to have a break from the near draught he'd been going through but a more bitter side wasn't as optimistic .

The rain fell hard and fast, that he could easily hear but it was something he could also feel as water came trickling steadily through poor foundation.

Quickly the floor was beginning to dampen and an eerie thought crossed him, perhaps he'd catch his death tonight.

If this hole in the ground cooled down the same way it heated up there was the very likely chance he'd be in for a quite literal shock.

Curling into a corner he did his best to stay dry though he doubted such a space existed any longer.  
His feet were already chilled and he continued to sweat as a slight shiver crawled up his frame, the only material he was left to wear soon drenched from both liquids.

Bang after bang, boom after boom, soon he was flinching with the noises and bitterly wondering if this was the enemies newest form of torture.

Closer and closer they crawled until he was covering his ears, a sicker part of his quickly ailing mind telling him to pull them off so he wouldn't have to hear.

Still they came but this time, this time they were accompanied by something else.  
Something that had him going back to his crack in the wall.

Nothing could be seen past the shower but it allowed the sounds to drift further in.  
More particularly the voices, and none to quiet were they in their shouting... or what his hazed mind finally came to recognize as shooting.

They were shooting, but at what?

A hope so deranged and desperate crossed his mind that it couldn't possibly be true.  
They were coming to sa.. no... no... no ,no  
He shook his head with a bitter bark as he reminded himself that he wouldn't be saved... not this time around.

Still that left no explanation for what he was hearing,... only it did.

He had finally lost his mind.

It was a thought that strangely soothed him as he curled back into his corner.  
Even if it be just in his mind the Calvary had come and finally.. he could rest.

The thought brought about a brightness that warmed him in more ways than one... and with it he fell toward his first peaceful sleep in days.

He barely heard the voice that called, "Gunnery?" The familiarity of it made him smile. "Gunnery we're gonna get you out of there!" He may have lost his mind but it was nice to know he hadn't lost his friends... and with that he was gone to the world.

* * *

**Was he saved?  
Interpret how you'd like.**


End file.
